Commentary

Your future customers are smart. They have become more and more educated as retail industries have grown and adapted a more transparent type of business model. In fact, 56% of Americans now do extensive research about the companies they choose to buy from.

The summer is here and vacations are being planned. Whether it's a family trip to a local beach, visiting relatives out of state, or a trip to Disneyland, families everywhere are eager to get out and enjoy this great time of year. With endless lists and preparations to take care of, it's easy to let energy efficiency take a back seat. But be proactive! A few simple modifications can really make a difference.

Moving the electricity sector into a low-carbon future presents many challenges. As supply becomes increasingly intermittent, so the need for fast-responding, flexible demand and generation sources grows. Energy storage is a key source of flexibility to meet this need and has been identified by the UK Smart Grid Forum as a crucial intervention likely to be required for the future smart grid.

In today's data center landscape, it has become increasingly important to maintain uptime for business continuity. To avoid costly downtime and sustain uptime in the case of a power event, facilities operators have to deploy a comprehensive power distribution scheme along with emergency power support from an uninterruptible power system (UPS).

Consumers everywhere are using their mobile devices to make life easier, gain quick access to information, and manage their day-to-day activities. Smartphone adoption and usage is not limited to certain age groups, markets or demographics; from millennials to baby boomers, the smartphone has become the go-to device to access information and complete tasks.

Technical Reference Manuals have long provided characterizations of efficient technologies in the electric and thermal energy sectors. At many utilities throughout the world, these manuals are a crucial piece of efficiency programs, allowing for standardized calculations of energy and financial savings gained through efficient products and demand management programs. Because of the increasing impact of the electric vehicle (EV) fleet on grid resources, a TRM that gives planners the ability to include EVs in decision making at both the program and system-wide levels is needed.

Demand response (DR) is critical for reducing peak demand on the grid and, at the same time, avoiding system emergencies. When delivered via behind-the-meter energy storage, DR can play an even more significant role in improving reliability and reducing system cost.

Competitive Electricity retailers better start taking a leaf from the mobile service provider's book on churn management. Customers living in a world where they can get a free handset and $50 cash back for signing up a new mobile service provider are not going to look at Electricity and In Home Displays (IHD) too differently.

When trying to decipher the label on a box of light bulbs, you could become so frustrated your teeth start to grind and your eyes begin to protrude. If you're new to the lighting labels, they can be confusing, but fear not! We're here to teach you the lingo and explain what everything means.

The largest part of residential energy consumption (generally considered around 40%) maintains interior comfort regardless of the weather. Energy used to create this comfort is a function of how well inside is separated from outside. The separation zone, or "thermal shell", is the insulating layer around conditioned interior space.

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